Howdy-hi, folks!  This is a jam packed post, so be prepared to be bored or amazed.  I’m not sure which but I hope its the later for you! 😉

Rain does a fabulous job picking general themes that last a whole month.  I wasn’t surprised at all with her direction for October.  Today’s art theme is ‘Alien Worlds’.  Perfect! This is a good time to use one of my A2Z Looney Tunes’ art sketches.  You probably know where I’m going if you followed my series in April so it comes as no surprise to some to know that I went with my favorite alien, Marvin the Martian and K9 in living color conquering a distant world.  

Yesterday, I shared another colorized Looney Tunes art sketch in my newest  A2Z Road Trip update in case you missed it.

This week, I’m thankful we managed to make a huge dent in the yard work.  One thing or another has kept us grounded so to speak and unable to tackle this job which makes all the more challenging.  We decided when our bodies said enough is enough then to listen for once.  That’s so much easier said than done and although a few times we both found ourselves stretching our limits before saying, nope not gonna do it.  We put in 4 hours.  I stayed mindful the entire time to not twist or pull with my back and when I needed to pick anything off the ground, I bent at the knees to retrieve it.  I made a zillion trips up and down our drive placing the debris in the ditch for the city to pick up.  Exhausted and achy when we quit, I was happy with our progress.  Neither of us didn’t expect to get near what we did to get done and that was a good feeling, but the biggest thankful is the next day neither of us weren’t laid out on the sofa unable to move, especially me.  I’m so excited!

I’m thankful that I managed to incorporate daily elliptical training sessions into my routine without any complications or complaints.  I averaged an hour each day as of yesterday and hope to log another hour today.  I’m excited about getting active again. 

I’m thankful DH got approved for time off for the first two weeks in November.  We’re looking forward to some R&R time.  It’ll be more the same ole thing we’ve done in the past, except there won’t be any dining out or going into businesses unless we feel we it’s at a time when it’s not crowded.  I’m okay with day trips to the mountains picnicking, photo ops, movie marathons, and such.  As long as I’m spending the time with my favorite fella then I’m happy. 

 

Borrowing from this week’s prompt, I’m inspired to go write a little something about serendipity. 

Serendipity is a word that somehow makes me feel good.  I don’t know why but perhaps it has a whimsical sound to it which conveys a sense of fun to my brain.  One of the disadvantages to not be an avid reader is your vocabulary is limited.  I really need to work on improving in this area before I get too old, right?  

The dictionary tells me it means the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.  

Okay, my thinking wasn’t too far off base and learning the meaning behind word inspired me to look for happy accidents.  

Today, I’m going to share the backstories of 3 happy accidents.

It’s hard to imagine a world without chocolate chip cookies, but the delectable dessert wasn’t actually invented until 1930. On the day that the cookies were created, Ruth Graves Wakefield, co-owner of the Toll House Inn, was preparing some chocolate cookies for her guests when she realized that she was out of baker’s chocolate. Thinking on her feet, Wakefield decided to chop up a block of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate, assuming that it would melt and spread evenly throughout the batter. Instead, what came out of the oven was the very first batch of chocolate chip cookies, and modern dessert was never the same.  Source: Best Life Online

Why not make a batch of cookies happy accident of your own?  Here’s my recipe! 

 

Post-It Notes

In 1968, scientist Spencer Silver at the 3M company created a very weak adhesive that would peel off when removed from any surface. The funny thing was that he was in fact trying to create a super strong adhesive No one thought there was any use for such a product, until another scientist, Art Fry, realized that the little pieces of paper made great book marks for his church songs without leaving residue on the page. Source: Story Pick

 

In 1943, Richard James, a naval mechanical engineer stationed at the William Cramp & Sons shipyards in Philadelphia, was developing springs that could support and stabilize sensitive instruments aboard ships in rough seas. James accidentally knocked one of the springs from a shelf, and watched as the spring “stepped” in a series of arcs to a stack of books, to a tabletop, and to the floor, where it re-coiled itself and stood upright.  James’s wife Betty later recalled, “He came home and said, ‘I think if I got the right property of steel and the right tension; I could make it walk.'” James experimented with different types of steel wire over the next year, and finally found a spring that would walk. Betty was dubious at first, but changed her mind after the toy was fine-tuned and neighborhood children expressed an excited interest in it. She dubbed the toy Slinky (meaning “sleek and graceful”), after finding the word in a dictionary, and deciding that the word aptly described the sound of a metal spring expanding and collapsing.  Source: Wikipedia

 

You learn about some of these and more happy accidents on How Stuff Works.   What sorts of happy accidents come to mind?   Maybe you have a personal happy accident to share.  I’d love to read about it!

For more creative writing, consider visiting Eugenia.  She has a passion for poetry and each week she offers a word prompt to pull out one’s inner poet.  If you’re inspired, just let her know by leaving a comment on her site with a direct link to your post.  Now, go visit my girl! 😉

 

Tomorrow look for my double feature Moonraker BOTB Showdown Results and Friday Funnies post.   I’m heading over to Rain’s Garden to browse the gallery of artistry.   I’m leaving you with this week’s TBT tune with John Williams’ “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” theme song from the 1977 blockbuster film.   Can you guess where my inspiration came from? 😀   Have a doodletastic day! X💋X💋, Cathy